


The Left Behind Club

by NorthwesternInsanity



Series: Dokken European Tour Mishaps [1]
Category: Dokken, Music RPF
Genre: Embarrassment, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Left Behind - Freeform, M/M, missed the bus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 07:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14515419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthwesternInsanity/pseuds/NorthwesternInsanity
Summary: The Dokken European tour in 1986, like many others, was not one to go without a few hitches. Riots in the towns, nuclear war danger all around, multiple instances of coming down sick -but most notably, the two incidents which bandmates got left behind at a stop along the road.





	The Left Behind Club

Don Dokken felt that any time he managed to get over six hours of uninterrupted sleep on the bus was not only incredibly rare, but usually resulted with following consequence shortly after he would wake up. Because getting proper sleep, it seemed, was too good to be true on its own without some catch to it.

Having just woken up a few minutes ago on the bus ride into Belgium, Don was already starting to get the bad feeling. The tension growing in his chest and the knots tying in his stomach being pulled tight by invisible, tiny icy fingers inside him. That feeling that whenever he got it, without failure, something went wrong in the next twenty-four hours.

Already, without being fully awake, he was seeing something that perked his suspicions.

Don noticed that Mick's curtain was up and he wasn't in his bunk, which surprised him. Mick was recovering from a virus that had left him with symptoms that were mild in severity, but all together were nasty. Upper sinus congestion, a headache from the pressure, low grade fever, and stomach distress all wreaked havoc on Mick's usual abounding humor and the wildness that gave him his nickname. He'd been wanting to do nothing but lie down when they were on the bus the past few days, and nobody had objected, knowing it was safer the first few days for Mick to stay isolated. Now, he was past the potentially contagious period, but still felt run down and nasty and had continued opting to stay in his bunk.

Looking through the doorway into the kitchen, he didn't see any sign of Mick. That meant that Mick was probably in the back lounge with the crew. Which at first, Don thought was a good thing. Maybe Mick was starting to feel better and was getting his normal energy back.

Except then, Don remembered that this wasn't the case. Because he'd walked through the back of the bus past where the crew was to use the lavatory after waking up less than fifteen minutes ago, and Mick hadn't been with them.

_Wait a minute... Where is he?_

Don turned around and went back into the back lounge where the crew was. He still didn't see Mick.

"Is Mick in here with you all?"

"No, we haven't seen him," said one of the crew men. "We thought he was still sleeping."

"Well, he's not in his bunk. Let me check up front." 

Of course, for Mick to be up front was a rare thing. The only exception was when he was talking with their driver, Ray, and Don didn't hear sounds from the front indicative of the two enjoying shooting the shit.

_Uh-oh._

Don couldn't think of any other place on the bus that Mick would be. There weren't exactly that many places to go on a bus in the first place, and he'd nixed every possible place Mick would usually be.

He padded into the kitchen, deciding to check there just in case, and found Jeff, who also hadn't woken up too long ago, alone and leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in hand.

"Jeff, have you seen Mick?"

Jeff looked confused as to why Don was asking him this.

"No, I haven't. I thought he was sleeping -he hasn't been feeling well. Why?"

"Well, he's not in his bunk, because his curtain is up. I just woke up a few minutes ago. It's been about eight hours since we passed through the border -we haven't stopped since, have we?"

Jeff thought for a second. "Not to my knowledge. I'll ask Ray."

"Where's George?"

"He woke up half an hour ago, and he's in the front lounge."

Before Jeff even got out of the kitchen to ask Ray if they'd stopped, Don pushed through the doorway into the front lounge.

"George, in the time before and after you went to sleep after we got back onboard from the border, _have you seen Mick?"_

Don was starting to sound frantic. He _looked_ frantic -big, panicked eyes, grim expression, swift movements that weren't fully coordinated -and George looked up at Don incredulously as he took in the spectacle.

"Funny you should say that -no, I haven't... But Don, why do you ask that, and why are you freaking out? Have you lost your marbles or something?"

Jeff came back from the front.

"No, we have not stopped since the border, and we are scheduled to arrive at the hotel in less than five minutes."

_"Shit,"_ growled Don, going up front with Ray.

George looked over at Jeff suspiciously.

"You woke up half an hour ago, same time as me, and Don woke up shortly after. Mick's not in his bunk, and he's not back with the crew either, and we're starting to realize where else could he be-"

George gasped, the classic 'uh-oh' look that Don had sported a few moments ago making its way across his features too. "Are you saying-?"

"I'm afraid so. My guess is Don is up front making a phone call with Ray right now," said Jeff matter-of-factly.

"We'd better not be driving back to that border," said George sarcastically.

"I don't think we are -we'll figure something out -but it's a good thing today's a travel day and we don't have a show tonight," concluded Jeff.

"Sure is."

Don came back out of the front just as the bus pulled to a stop at the hotel parking lot.

"Mick must have gotten back off the bus at the border, because apparently he's still there. I have called, and they are taxiing him out here, but it'll be awhile," Don warned. "He'll be back late."

"Fantastic," said George sarcastically.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Don asked rhetorically. "Because if you do, let's hear it!"

George gave no answer aside from a silent death glare.

"I thought so," snorted Don.

"Uh, Don? George? We're parked and the crew is unloading the bus. Can we go inside?" asked Jeff, deciding to stop the two before they got going.

"Yes we can," said George, getting up. "In fact, we will -right now."

Don followed and the arguing stopped, but tension held over them from that moment all the way through the time they were unpacking, while they were at dinner, and finally, while they waited watching out for a taxi to pull up at the time Mick was estimated to arrive. It was raining hard outside, and it was relatively silent in the hotel. All three sat on the floor at the end of the hallway where the glass emergency exit door gave them a wide view out into the dreariness. 

"There it is," murmured Jeff as a taxi pulled up after midnight and they could see it was one that had German markings, so it had come all the way from the border.

Don clambered up from the floor and led the charge down the hall to the lobby door and outside. George and Jeff followed close on his heels to the doorway. However, while George and Jeff stopped at the door, Don strode swiftly right out into the rain and approached Mick as he was making his way toward the hotel, poised to meet him halfway there. In less than five seconds, the rain had him half-drenched, but he kept going toward Mick anyway.

When Don finally got up to Mick, he was _livid_. He approached with a glare that wasn't so much out of anger as it was fear, holding up a finger that was ever so slightly shaking, and he let Mick have it.

"DON'T _EVER_ DO THAT AGAIN!" he shouted, pulling Mick in toward himself and in the direction of the hotel.

Mick looked up and tried to give his grin of humor. His eyes were puffy with exhaustion and his cheeks were flushed, slightly feverish, wet hair sticking to the sides of his face, and he shivered upon contact with Don, who having been in the hotel with the heat on, still was warmer and dryer than him. He was still quite obviously sick, and feeling worse as the result of his unplanned adventure.

"I can tell you one thing, then, Don -I don't think I was planning to do that this time, and I'm definitely not planning on doing it again!"

"And you'd better not be either," said Don, guiding Mick in through the doorway of the hotel front, not caring one iota what other people passing through thought of the two of them dripping with rainwater. 

He motioned for Jeff and George to come over. Mick sank down exhaustedly on a couch.

Whether it was the relief of seeing Mick okay, the ability to express the humor of it now that the scary part was over, a combination, or something else, neither Don, George, or Mick would know. But the moment Jeff saw Mick, he lost his marbles. He practically howled with laughter. George had to shush him.

"Alright, Jeff, it's funny, but quiet. We're in the lobby," George chuckled, a joke springing to his mind. "I think we may need to consider putting a sign on Mick so that if he gets lost again, people know to send him back to us."

"Oh, YES!" exclaimed Jeff, flopping down on the couch beside Mick. "That's gonna be a reality tomorrow!"

"Great," muttered Mick in a low tone.

"Jeff, quiet!" hissed Don.

_Oh boy,_ thought George to himself, realizing his joke had just set Mick up to get joked to death by Jeff. The concept was still funny -for them, not Mick.

"All this because I had to go to the bathroom and ran back off the bus," Mick moaned, rubbing the sinuses above his eyes.

"All of you!" hissed Don again. "Quiet. Listen."

George sighed silently and quieted. Mick stayed quiet, and Jeff reduced his laughter to tiny wheezes.

"From this point on, _do not get off the bus without telling Ray_ if you think you're going to be a minute -or longer," ordered Don. "I'm sure he feels terrible right now -he does; he's been apologizing profusely. And I know it's annoying to have to have to tell someone before you do every little thing, but if you don't communicate with him, he has no way of knowing that you got back off the bus. That goes for you too, George. And Jeff. Got it?"

"Yes," said Mick, sniffling and shivering with his wet clothes sticking to him. They'd been warm enough during the day, but not now at night, and definitely not soaked through.

George nodded, looking completely disinterested.

"Okay," said Don. "We didn't realize you got back off the bus, Mick. Sorry. But you're here -you're lucky -but we're all okay. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Jeff resumed audible giggling.

"I cannot believe you managed to do that, Mick-"

"Just leave me alone," grumbled Mick. With his congestion, it sounded more like a whimper. He got up from the couch and headed for the hallway to the rooms, indicating he was ready to go inside his room for the night. 

Having both of the keys to their shared room on account of Mick being missing, Don got up to take Mick back to the room and let him in. By the time they got there, Don opted to stay too, having had enough excitement.

At that point, Don also decided to settle down and let Mick off the hook, knowing that Mick wasn't feeling too well and had probably been feeling miserable already before realizing he'd been left behind -which almost undoubtedly made it worse. That in addition to getting soaked. He couldn't help but feel bad, even if Mick had scared half the wits out of him.

As soon as they were in the room, Mick was near his crashing-point and desperate to go to bed early as possible -confirming Don's concern.

George was next to settle down when they met up the next morning and Mick stayed unusually quiet and withdrawn after he reminded Mick to put on his warning sign. It wasn't fun when they got Mick in a bad mood, and Mick was already showing no humor, so they were on thin ice. Lord knew George already saw enough bad moods out of Don.

But Jeff could not drop it for the life of him. It seemed that he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen happen, and he was determined to drag it out and keep poking fun at Mick for days on end.

"Hey, make sure we have Mick on here before we drive off!" he would announce with amusement before they prepared to leave. 

"Don't get left behind," he'd warn before Mick would get off the bus at stops.

"We're crossing the border today," Jeff said a week later, when they were approaching the boarder crossing leaving Belgium and going into France. "Make sure you let us know if you're getting off, Mick. You might be left behind otherwise and get stuck here!"

Mick sighed. The day following his experience, it had been funny once he'd gotten some rest and his embarrassment wore off. However, at the end of a week of it continuing, it wasn't funny anymore. He was starting to get tired of it. Especially since he was indeed forced today to wear a sign around his neck that said: 'Hi, my name is Mick Brown. If found, please return to Dokken tour.'

"Yeah, you think I wouldn't have figured it out by now," he said sarcastically, trying to sound humorous despite it. "I'll make sure to tell Ray wherever I'm going."

The border crossing went without a hitch. However, the next day was when incident struck again.

It wasn't Mick this time though.

It was on a stretch of travel in France, and it had been about two hours since a stop at a gas station that a police car with its sirens going and its lights flashing got behind the bus, and followed it.

After a few minutes of being followed by the police car and not seeing it pass the bus, it became obvious that it was actually after the bus and not someone in the adjacent lane next to the car, so Ray pulled over.

"What in the hell are we getting pulled over for?" asked Don.

Mick came forward too, hearing the sirens, feeling the bus stop, and being curious as to why.

"I don't know. I _know_ I wasn't speeding, because this bus has an alarm that goes off if I do, and it wasn't going off," said Ray.

Don shook his head. "Whatever it is, this had better be good."

"What is it?" asked Mick.

"We got pulled over by the police for whatever reason," sighed Don. "Why, I do not know."

Ray got off the bus to talk with the officer and ask why they were getting pulled over. Two minutes later, he came back up through the door.

"Don, come talk to this guy. He was dispatched saying that he got a call and we're apparently missing someone. I don't know if that's the case or not."

Don climbed off the bus. He was pretty sure they had everyone -everyone was on the bus before Ray pulled off, because Ray asked if everyone to tell him when they were back on and had kept count. So he felt that this police officer was seriously trying to push his buttons right about now, and he wasn't happy about it either.

"Yes?" asked Don, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Are you sure you aren't missing somebody on your bus?" demanded the officer.

"Absolutely, we had all ten accounted for before we left."

"Well, I can't argue with you all of you say you have someone, but I recommend you all double check, because we got a call from someone back about two hours from here at a gas station, and he was pretty insistent he was with you all, and sounded pretty frantic about being left behind. Your call." The police officer went back to his vehicle and drove off.

"Well, if anyone's missing, you can't blame it on me this time," said Mick matter-of-factly from the bus steps.

"Which is a good thing, because I guarantee we wouldn't let you hear the end of it this time for sure," Don threatened. "Myself included."

Ray turned to Don.

"Can we have a headcount inside and check to make sure we have everyone? I don't want to turn around and have you all lose time unless we're indeed missing someone, but if we do need to go back, the sooner the better. Because if we take off driving again, we're only getting further away."

"Sure," said Don. 

"I'll tell the crew, you all sort yourselves out," said Ray. 

Don waited until Ray was back on, and motioned for Mick to follow him back through the bus too.

"Mick, come on to the back again. Have you _noticed_ anyone missing?"

"I haven't seen Jeff or George, but I thought they were in their bunks. They were up most of the night and were saying they were tired, and George said he was going to sleep on the road, and I'm pretty sure Jeff is doing the same."

"Alright, then; let's check." Don turned around and went through the bus to the bunk area. First he pulled back Jeff's curtain. Empty bunk.

_Where else on this bus would he be?_ wondered Don, seeing that he wasn't on the couch either.

Mick pulled back George's curtain, revealing George curled up in his blankets, which were untucked from the bottom and in a mess tangled around his legs. He'd obviously been in heavy sleep earlier, but he had to have been coming out of it too, because when the light came into his bunk, he groaned, lifted his head slightly from his pillow, and opened his eyes to a squint, trying to see who was there.

"Wakey-wakey," said Mick. He was trying to sound lighthearted, but there was a tint of concern in his voice.

George groaned and dropped back down on the pillow.

"Now what?" he spoke, muffled.

"We need to do a headcount around this bus right now," Don ordered. "I'm serious. That means you need to get up. Now."

"Why?" George complained. "Ugh, what do you want this time!" He sat up and shook his head.

"Listen. We got pulled over by the police, they say that someone called from our last stop and was left behind. We need to make sure we have everyone onboard."

George climbed down from his bunk and leaned against the post, sulking and sleepy-eyed.

"All ten of us -six crew members, and you, myself, Mick, and Jeff. We have five of six crew members accounted for, you're here, Mick and I are here... Jeff is not in his bunk. Was he in the back with the crew to your knowledge, George?"

"You see, I didn't see him in the back where we were," said Mick. I was with the crew in the back."

George's eyes seemed to snap awake.

"He said he was going to get in his bunk -I don't know why he's not there, unless he recently woke up," said George.

"I was around the front lounge, and I didn't see him up there either, so unless he was hanging around in the kitchen area, which Mick walked through from the back..." Don tried listing off where Jeff could have been. "Could he be in the bathroom?"

Mick put his finger on his chin with thought. "Well, he'd have been seen by the crew if he got up to go, even after I came to the front, and since it's been over five minutes since then, I'm pretty sure he'd be out by now unless he's changing or has coke in there."

Don rolled his eyes at the slightest mention of cocaine. He hoped that wasn't it, even if it meant that Jeff was with them, because that was going to make for a bad evening in an entirely different way.

One of the crew came from the front lounge.

"Found our sixth. All six of us are here. You guys all accounted for?"

"No, we can't find Jeff," said George, who now was wide awake and was beginning to look sick with worry.

He checked the couch, just in case if Jeff had decided to fort under the couch cushions. He also checked under the lower bunk to see if Jeff had gotten under it with his belongings. Both of which he'd done before -though all the times he had, it had been the result of paranoia after overdoing it on cocaine -which George didn't think Jeff was going to do if he was tired and had wanted to sleep while they were traveling. 

As he expected, Jeff was in neither place.

Mick came back, having checked in the kitchen area, and in the lavatory.

"Nobody is in the kitchen. Bathroom door is unlocked and the light is off. I turned on the light checked in the shower just in case, but it's empty, so Jeff's not there either."

A shadow of dread crossed Don's face. He already knew the answer and that they were going to have to turn around, but he asked the words that he wanted to be the case anyway.

"Is there any place that we have not looked?"

George wordlessly ticked off on his fingers where they'd checked, the same dreading coming over him.

"No."

"And the crew says that they have not seen him either while looking around."

"I asked," said Mick. "They said 'no' too."

"Alright. That gives us our answer then. I'll go tell Ray."

Without further word, Don went back up to the driver's area, and picked the phone up, calling the number the police had given them to call their manager back. Who immediately asked the question that was already answered by now.

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you, and tell him we'll be there soon as possible."

He then put the phone back on the hook and looked at Ray, exasperated and sighing.

"Go back."

Ray simply nodded and pulled away from the curb, merging to the inner lane. At the next divide in the median, he turned the bus around, knowing it was confirmation that Jeff was indeed missing.

At that moment, George came storming through to the front of the bus, rage in his eyes, headed right to go to war with Don.

"Why the fuck did you not make sure he was on the bus-!"

Don cut George off, rage of a complimentary level sparking in his own eyes.

"Ah-ah, _no!_ Don't you start. Don't even _try_ to play that game with me, George! It happened hours ago, and nobody -not even you of all people on this bus -realized, so _what else do you want me to do_ about it now?! He obviously got off the bus without saying something, and nobody knew. I can't change that. We're going back to get him -I told Ray to take us back and the bus is turned around -but until we get there, I can't do anything else. They say he's there with them, so he's accounted for and not going anywhere until we get him back with us. He'll be okay!"

George blatantly rolled his eyes at Don and went to sit up front with Ray so he could see and know exactly when they got there.

And sure enough, when they got back to the gas station two hours later, Jeff was there. He sat huddled and looking like a forlorn puppy that would have been tucking its tail between its legs.

Mick was the first to jump off the bus, and as soon as his feet hit the ground and he got around the doors to make eye contact with Jeff, he rose one hand up to his mouth, stretched the other one out in front of him to point directly at Jeff, and he laughed out loud as if he'd seen the funniest thing in the world.

"Pfffft!! -Oh, Jeff, man... Ha! Welcome to the left-behind club!" Mick rasped out.

Jeff blushed so that they could all see his cheeks redden several feet away as they all approached him.

"How's it feel to join?" snickered Mick.

Jeff looked down at his lap, letting his hair hang over his face as Don and George walked up beside him, then Mick a couple seconds later.

"Jeff, I thought you came back on the bus with me," said George apologetically.

"I did," said Jeff, confirming.

"So you got off the bus again. Why?" asked Don.

"I lost my bandanna -it came untied, and I saw it in the parking lot, so I ran off to grab it."

"And I'm guessing the bus drove away while you were getting it?" asked Don rhetorically.

Jeff blushed a little brighter.

Mick wheezed laughing again.

"I didn't expect that of all things. Left behind because of a bandanna, Jeff?!"

"Mick, you hush!" ordered Don, trying to ask Jeff more questions. "And I take it you didn't think to tell Ray that you were getting back off the bus when he was told we were all onboard and ready to go?"

Jeff shook his head, folding in on himself a bit more.

"Alright, now, Jeff. You can't really complain too much about being embarrassed here after all the railing you did on Mick," said Don. "Just remember this, and think next time about what could happen before getting off the bus. And tell someone."

George had to resist the urge to tell Don to 'hush' himself.

"Are we all set now that we have him?" asked Mick.

"Yeah," said Don. "But we may have something to discuss later."

"Okay then," said George, deciding to rescue Jeff without being sympathetic. Even he knew that Jeff had some humiliation coming to him with this, but he didn't think it needed to go overboard to get back at him for Mick. The shame was enough. 

"Let's go back to the bus and get going."

Silently, everyone climbed onto the bus. Ray came out of the front and stood in the hallway to make an announcement of his own.

"Before we leave, is _everyone_ on this bus? We are _not_ turning around again, so do a headcount and make sure that we have everyone here. I'm not getting on the road until you tell me."

Five minutes later, all six crew members were accounted for, and Mick made a point of making Jeff walk up and present himself to Ray to show that he was onboard, to Jeff's further mortification. Don and George also checked in, and then they were back on the road.

Don spent some time up front talking with Ray, and then some time in the back with the crew. He had decided that this was the final straw, and was determined that nobody would be left behind again. 

"Everyone in the front lounge," ordered Don as soon as the crew, Ray, and himself came to a consensus on what they felt confident in working. "George, Mick, Jeff -right now."

"Oh, _now what?"_ groaned George.

"I think it has to do with Jeff," teased Mick. He was enjoying every moment of getting back with this.

Jeff followed to the front lounge without a word. He knew full well it was about him. He was in trouble now!

Don stayed standing while everyone else sat down.

"Alright, from now on, until we leave Europe, this bus does not pull away until we have checked and accounted for everyone. And nobody gets off the bus once they have returned to it without letting Ray know that you're getting off for whatever reason, and let him know as soon as you are back. Whether it's for ten seconds or ten minutes, if we are ready to go and we think you're on the bus and you're not, it only takes a few seconds for us to drive off without you. 

"And when we are off the bus, we stay together, okay? From this point forward, we head count every ten minutes and we don't go any further until we are all together or know where everyone is. We're not separating unless we absolutely have to. Make sure at least one of us four, or one of the crew members, is with you so that nobody is alone at any time. If you're separating off, tell us where you're going before you leave and when you're going to be back with us. And if you're not back shortly after that time, we have an idea of where you are, and know to come find you if you're lost. It sounds tedious and annoying. That's because it is. But we're not going to keep doing this. If any of you have objections or better ideas as to how to go about this, speak now. But I highly doubt anybody disagrees on not wanting this again."

Mick shook his head. "If there's a better way, I'd have to think it up later. For right now, I'm good with it."

Jeff stayed quiet and folded in on himself the way he did when he was embarrassed and knew he was in some degree of trouble.

"It's fine," said George, agreeing with Don -which surprised even him, given how rare it was. But finding out that they'd left Jeff was scary. A number of things could have happened with all the craziness going on with the Cold War tension that he didn't even want to imagine.

"We have an hour before we arrive at our venue," said Don. "We have two hours less to get ready than we would have had, so I recommend we all start getting our stuff we have accessible on the bus ready now, so that there's less to do when we get there. We're going to need to help the crew out, because we're running behind."

Grateful for a distraction, and a way to get away from Mick and his shame, Jeff went straight back to the crew to ask what he could help with. He grabbed the bass he'd taken on the bus after their last performance, which was also one of his onstage instruments so he could tune it up while figuring out what else he could do.

Of course, once they got to the venue, Mick made sure to lay out his lighthearted revenge on Jeff every chance he got. Don and George were bickering as usual, and Mick didn't even notice to withdraw himself. The crew kept it from getting too high-key too, as there was a massive scramble to get ready.

And following the show, there was a big production of making sure everyone was on the bus.

Mick led the production.

"I've got all six crew members in the back. Don's reading in his bunk, George is in the front lounge, and Jeff sitting in his bunk and hiding. If you want me to show you he's here, Ray, I can arrange that, but we're all onboard right now!"

"That's fine, Mick. I saw everyone board, and as long as you say nobody's issuing and I haven't been told of anyone getting off, I'll trust you." Ray started the engine and got going on the road, and Mick went back in with the crew as usual.

George found Mick's revenge amusing; however, he was missing Jeff's company tonight with Jeff having retreated to his bunk. He had to wonder if Jeff was tired out as he usually was after working himself up -which based on what Mick had described to George of what the police officer said, Jeff had -but he was determined to not end the night before getting Jeff to crack a smile about it.

An idea came to him, and he went to their supply cabinet exactly as he and Jeff had jokingly following Mick's experience, and just a few minutes later, he was ready. 

George creeped slowly to Jeff's bunk, seeing a small light shining through the curtain, meaning Jeff had the flashlight he'd hung from the bottom of the upper bunk on, and was still awake.

Slowly, George pulled back the curtain.

Jeff looked up slowly from his lap where he had one of his Batman comic books splayed open. He first met George with his continued forlorn doe eyes, but then squinted with questioning. 

"What is it that you have...?"

George had some piece of paper with writing on it, which he'd strapped around his neck with the aid of a piece of cord.

The moment Jeff had read it, it was obvious, because he started to giggle. He tried to hide it too, pulling the sheets over his face to hide and muffle himself, but he was audible.

_If found, please return to the Dokken European tour._

George stuck his arm under the sheets from the side and poked Jeff playfully in the ribs where he was still ticklish for a reaction. Jeff gave a tiny yelp, followed by more forceful giggling. He snatched his blankets and frantically tried to cocoon himself to avoid it.

"S-sst-op it!" Jeff made out in a tiny whimper broken up by wheezing giggles.

"Shhhh!" whispered George, grinning and stopping his tickling.

"But why, George?" asked Jeff, motioning to the sign. "Why on you?"

"Well, first it was Mick, then it was you, and that leaves Don and I, and as much as I'd like to think that Don would be next to join the left behind club, something tells me I'm just as much at risk."

"Well, I hope that doesn't happen," murmured Jeff tiredly, laying down. His nervous waiting period and the added rush to get ready for the show had indeed worn him to a frazzle for the night. It seemed that all he'd been waiting for now was the usual playful interaction with George to rid him of the remaining nerves.

"I don't think it'd be all that bad," said George with a light tone. "I almost hope if another one of us gets left that it's me and not Don."

"Why?"

"Well, because right now, I'm alone in the not-gotten-lost club with Don. And I'd rather be in the left-behind club with you -even if it does mean getting left behind and the shame and the worry of it. And having to listen to Don go up on his soapbox for another hour."

"I'm sure Mick can arrange for you to be an honorary member without getting left... since you want to get left," whispered Jeff, half giggling, half yawning.

"Oh, you -where do you come up with this?" George fluffed Jeff's hair affectionately. It was that moment that Jeff dropped off to sleep, still with a soft smile curling his lips.

"G'night, Jeff," whispered George, before climbing up to his own bunk above Jeff's and falling asleep too.


End file.
